Is Emmanuel Marcon the Antidote to Trumpism?

President Trump met with newly elected French President Emmanuel Marcon at the Élysée Palace, discussing issues most pertinent to the international situation: terrorism & climate change policy. But in addition to all the standard textbook international stuff, Trump also offered up his defense of junior Donald, who’s recently found himself in some hot water (and not from rising sea levels) over whether his meeting with a Russian lawyer further complicates things for the Trump administration, which, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin, vehemently denies that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians to wrongfully influence the outcome of the 2016 elections.

Putting the most obviously salient issue aside for a moment, Marcon’s diplomatic relations with Trump is something I’d advise people to keep a close eye on. France and the US have always had a touch and go relationship on matters of foreign policy, and Marcon is a far more centrist…